What happened: Nineteen y/o Macedonian boy was killed by a thief, while trying to retrieve his stolen
bike with his father. A group of local community members gathered to pay their respect, when the
media announced that the killer is Albanian. Then, the group gathered in big numbers and started
demolishing and burning stores of Albanians in Gjorche Petrov, burglarizing some of the stores as well.
Date, time and location of the incident: May 19th, evening hours, Gjorche Petrov, Skopje.
Source of information: National printed media Fokus, and local media 24Vesti.mk.
Victim(s) involved: Except the material damage, there were no direct victims in this incident.
Type of the crime(s): Endangerment of safety (Art.144), Damaging of other’s property Art. 243 CCRM,
Incitement of hate, discord and intolerance on national, racial religious or other discriminatory ground
(Art.319), Burglary Art.236 CCRM, Participation in a mob that will commit a crime Art.385 CCRM.
Perpetrator(s): Unknown number of perpetrator/s, Macedonian.
Brief description of incident with bias indicators: The bias motive in this incident is ethnic origin,
citizenship or language, and the bias indicators in this incident are:
1. Victim/Witness perception – based on statements made for the media, it is clear that the (indirect)
victims perceive the incident as bias motivated.
2. Comments made at the scene – the perpetrates constantly chanted hateful and derogatory slurs for
Albanians.
3. Difference between victim and perpetrator on ethnic grounds – it is obvious that this incident is ethnically
motivated, and therefore the (indirect) victims and perpetrators differ on ethnic grounds.
4. Pattern/ frequency of previous incident – this incident follows a crime that happened the same day, when
a Macedonian boy was killed by a thief trying to retrieve his bike.
5. Nature of violence – the incident was carried out in public.
6. Lack of other motives.
Status of the case: Criminal charges pressed.
Response of local authorities: The police stated via the media that they will undertake the appropriate
measures, and later on stated that in the aftermath of this incident and the one that followed the
next day, they have filed criminal charges against seven persons for Participation in a mob that will
commit a crime, and against two others for Burglary.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This type of incidents brings into question the general
security situation in the country and the cohabitation between the different ethnic communities in
the society.
